Iīm playing a GD 1938 game with ernie. He plays the Axis+USSR, while Iīm playing the western nations+China. We are playing an alternate WWII where Germany will be friendly, or at least neutral, towards USSR (think of a neutrality pact being signed by 1938, instead of 1939). V0.94 (not yet released) creates alliances and a few exotic features, like Chile and Mexico being annexed by USSR in case of coups. If the west nations are eventually defeated we can see a final showdown between USSR and the Axis. The idea here is to text the flexibility of the diplomatic features of the game and also the new tech tree.

January 1938. Germany annexed Denmark and Austria Italy annexed Hungary and Yugoslavia The scared Norwegian government agreed with an alliance with United Kingdom, while the Greeks asked to be accepted in the British Commonwealth. France annexed Luxembourg. Germany agents toppled the government in Cuba. The USA is nervous with an hostile government close to his own shores. An extensive program of armed forces expansions was started. In China, there were some inconclusive land battles with moderate losses to both sides. The obsolete Chinese fighters did well against Japanese planes, achieving a 1:1 kill rate.

Germany and Italy are protected by a diplomatic shield. No-one can attack them, until they themselves have attacked. So, it was time to use some of those PPs on diplomatic expansions.

In this version of the game (version 0.94), Czechoslovakia and Denmark can be annexed by Germany, outright. So, I had really two ways to go, i think. I could either annex Denmark and Austria, or annex Czechoslovakia. Annexing Czechoslovakia is nice, because it gives me access to a major coal source, which would provide me with enough fuel for a long time, as well as supplies. However, if I donīt Annex Denmark, it may be coupīed by Great Britain, who then gains access to the baltic sea, through there. And Also France is able to coup Austria, which with it's German population really produces alot... So my choice fell on Denmark and Austria. With any hope the gamble would pay off and I would get Czechoslovakia next turn. France and Britain both have the option of bringing Czechoslovakia to their alliance.

The coup in Cuba. Well, it only costs 10 PP, and it might be a good submarine base. Cuba is also the only country that USA can bring under her protection, without making a coup... So, to annoy, I chose to try and get a coup in Cuba. Seeing that it only succeeds 25% of the time, and 10% of that time there is a counter coup giving it to the USA, it was a chance to take. It paid off, luckily.

Italy also had some needs. Among others to be able to fight on a single front. The best way to do this was to ensure that countries around it, are not annexed or join the opposing forces. However, Italy also has some nice options. For instance taking Spain would open up the Med so forces from the Axis could meet up. Also one might choose a coup in Turkey. In the end i decided that my flank was more worth it than these two other options. So the Italian leadership (Mousolini), chose to exhert some pressure on the Yugoslav and Albanian governments. Both succumbed and joined Italy.

Japan also has a sort of diplomatic screen. They can not be attacked by any other power than the Soviet Union, unless they decide to go to war with a western power (however small). Also they start off embroyled in a war with China. I was assuming that the chinese would not sue for peace, so I had to fight here.

I decide to make some small skirmishes, while moving my units in better position for assaults on important locations. I also send my airforce after the Chinese airforce, to try and engage and destroy as much of it as possible. Mixed results on that part. As bombur reported a 1:1 ratio. Not good, but neccessary. China cannot replace its air losses, at least not in the foreseeable future. I can. I bring some of the Japanese fleet to bear on Tsingtao, bombarding it, and preparing it for assault sooner or later. I also send out submarines from Taipei to blockade Hainan. Hangchow is bombarded, and the position in and near Shanghai is held.

USSR i was not really sure what to do with, yet. I have this vague plan of them somehow being able to contribute to the Axis war-effort against the capitalists. I try some coupīs. One in Finland, One in Romania and perhaps one more, I canīt remember exactly. Only one of the coupīs succeed. That in Rumania. But that is ok. Russia will have plenty of time to conquer Finland, without interference by anybody. As for the three Baltic countries: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania... they can be taken over by annexation in this version of the game. However, no need to hasten this. The only other country able to in any way get a hold of them is Germany... and we are friends with Germany.

GB: A disastrous covert operation by the Foreign Office resulted in a pro German government in Persia. The Italians also got Arabia after a Fascist coup. Most of the Middle East with its rich oil reserves are now in Fascist hands. France annexed Belgium The USA goes on with military expansion. The first batch of Fighters III rolled out of the assembly lines China lost Tsingtao. Chinese units retreated from the shores, where they can be hit by the IJN with lethal effects. On the good news, itīs reported that Japanese fighters lack the range to protect some units in the Chinese mainland. This resulted in Chinese air attacks, followed by a land counteroffensive that almost wiped out two Japanese divisions.

Germany completes itīs short term take over plans, and annex Czechoslovakia... We also try for a coup in a south american country, that shall remain nameless (for security reasons), and it failed. Too bad really, it would have made a nice place to stash a few submarines as well.

Italian leadership realizes that it cannot maintain itīs african ambitions without a supply source of some kind. (In this game cities produce very little supply, but there are oil wells and coal mines that do). The only country around that has any potential for this, is Arabia. So we try a coup there, and as bombur has reported, it succeeds. Ah goody, an italian thorn in the side of the allied rear. Maybe this is going to be Italians war after all - they are kind of a puny nation, so they need some luck to be able to become an empire.

The Japanese concentrate on taking Chinese cities. The less the Chinese can produce, the less we need to fight them. Tsingtao is taken, after a heavy dose of artillery, shore bombardment, and bombing from the air. This is good news, as it will allow me to start linking up my forces in the South (near shanghai), and in the North (Peking, Manchuria and so on). Also a division is landed on the northern shores of Hainan. Next turn they will try to capture the city.

In Moscow things are quiet. A few coups are planned, but with the usual luck (or lack there of) these fail. The Soviet Union will have to use military means, most likely to persuade these countries to join later.

Turn 3 -Sweden joined the great British alliance -Italian annexed Switzerland -China loses Hainan. Chinese troops are inflicting 1:1 casualties in the Japanese Army, but the Chinese Army is losng ground.

The Germans consolidate themselves, trying to figure out what to do next. Abwehr is charged with trying to topple the Polish regime, that seems so anti-german it is hard to think of. Whatever do they want from little Germany... they already have Danzig! ... I guess that is really the main beef. Who will get Danzig, when and why.

The Italian intelligence services manages yet another glorious coup! This time, Switzerland. This will really help to quell french enthusiasm for war. If they decide to go against Italy, the French will have to fight on a much broader front, and the Maginot line might be circumvented by a route through Switzerland.

Hainan falls to the japanese forces that landed on the north coast of the island last turn. It was a close battle, but not close enough to stop the Japanese thrust. While the battle officially ended in a draw, both parties being to exhausted to fight any more... the Chinese surrendered to the Japanese, who couldnīt march into the city because of the hard battle they had fought. In the North, an important bridge was taken, near Tsingtao. Japanese forces are rushing across to see if they can link up with forces in Shanghai.

The Soviet Union had another series of fiascos, trying to turn a few countries goverments to seeing the light. Stalin did however persuade Mongolia to join the ranks of the Soviet Peoples Paradise.

The Japanese troops keep advancing in China, using airstrikes and artillery to weaken the Chinese defenders. Preparatives were made for a desperate defense of Kaifeng. The Japanese, however, are still taking relatively heavy losses. The Foreign office achieved another sucess by organizing a pro British coup in Ankara. However, the entire Eastern Europe is in hostile hands. No significant news from France and United States

question: when one coups a nation does this nation become your terrority or just allied with you and those nations keep their own units and whatnot? very good read indeed and looking forward to some screenshots....

question: when one coups a nation does this nation become your terrority or just allied with you and those nations keep their own units and whatnot? very good read indeed and looking forward to some screenshots....

Here is how the coup function works. First there is a 25% chance it will work, then there is a 10% chance it will backfire, and someone else will make a counter coup. If it works, the country becomes yours, with units and all, if it backfires, the country becomes the new owners property units and all. If it doesnīt work, it just says your agents are discovered, and nothing more happens. You can only try a coup once though!

Not all countries are eligable for coups by everyone. Take the Poland. Germany can actually attempt a coup, and the country might come under their control. If it backfires, the Soviet Union takes over the country. The Soviet union too can try a coup, which could backfire into a German coup happening instead. Britain and France (if i remember correctly) can take over by action card (which is an automatic takeover of the country).

This makes for an interesting dynamic. Do the Soviets or Germans dare to run a coup? And when, cause if they wait to long the country will become a part of France/Great Britain... not good at all...

Not much news from Germany, so weīll go right to Italy, and... not much news in Italy either. :P

Japan: Offensives are made by both Armies located in China. The 3rd Army which is engaged in fighting around Kaifeng, found that there scouts reported a too high concentration of enemies there, so instead, they turned southwards. Here they found, after clearing some chinese forces from the Peking-Shanghai road, that they had the chance to inflict major damage on the Chinese local HQ. Some intense fighting resulted, and the enemy HQ survived the onslaught. The forces of the 4th Army decided to try and mount an offensive towards Hangchow. This was succesful and Hangchow is now a part of the area know as Protected (occupied) China. Japanese Generals swear that they will have this war over by 1940. We will see.

The Baltic countries decide they want to join the Soviet Peoples Paradise. And liberating forces stream to the countries from the Soviet Union. To celebrate of course! A naval visit is scheduled to happen by the Soviet Baltic surface fleet as well.

Ack. Forgot that Germany Annexed Hungary and Finland in this turn. (we are reporting with a 1 turn delay, can be hard to remember what actually happened). With that in mind here is a brief report from Germany.

Hungary and Finland saw the light and commited themselves to support Germany in all her efforts to once again become a major world power. Poland, that until now has resisted all attempts to join up with either the Soviet state or the German Reich, is surrounded on all sides by German, Soviet and countries friendly to their cause. The nearest friendly country to Poland is... Sweden, which is controlled by a puppet British government (I am sure the British papers will deny this, and claim that Sweden is a country like any other, that has chosen to align with the British by various pacts. You know the usual lies!)

-France: no more diplomatic annexations are possible. Improvements are being made in the armed forces. We hope to develop fighter III before 1939, as our fighters are considered inferior to the German and British ones. New armoured dividions are being raised. -British: the Polish government is asking us for a mutual defense pact, worried with the aggressive behaviour of German and Soviet governments. However, we are already busy by upgrading Swedish and Norwegian forces to the same level of British ones. -USA: Expansion of military forces is going as planned. We expect to end 1938 with a force of 8-9 fleet carriers. We are thinking about using them against a certain Asiatic country.... -China. Our forces are still retreating, but the Japanese are paying a heavy price. We were able to launch a small couterattack in the North, destroying one Japanese infantry division, but the situation in the South is dire, and we donīt know if Kaifeng will hold for another turn.

Germany salutes the winner of the world cup in football (soccer): Italy! The Italians are most pleased with this result. It was a thrilling match that ended 4-2 to Italy. The loser was Hungary. It is nice to see that these sporting events can still take place, despite diplomatic tensions, and countries signing pacts with each others... Most of these pacts are after all just mutual assistance pacts!

Japan... well there is something happening in China. Two major offensives have taken place. The first to try and capture Wuhan, the second to try and capture Kaifeng. Here is a map showing the offensives.

As can be seen the road between Shanghai and Peking is now open. The last chinese unit retreated this turn. In the south 4th army broke the Chinese front protecting the southern approaches to Wuhan. In the north Kaifeng is being surrounded by troops of the 3rd Army.

We expect some counter offensives, but the japanese are pretty reckless in their headlong charge. Maybe it will come back to bite them. And, as can be read in Bomburs post above, it did. A division was decimated in the north, near Peking, where the fighting has been very non-existant (off map in this screenshot)... And in the South, the Division that was on the outskirts of Wuhan was pushed back, and surrounded. It did hold however.

Nobody seems to care what is happening in Germany and Italy, and the truth is not much, at least according to the local newspapers. Some news has spread though. French observers have seen a new Italian airplane type they have never seen before, a biplane that seems to be incredibly manouverable. The Italians are great believers in agility in the air, apparantly. While we are still on the tech. front, Chinese infantry are discovering the value of semiautomatic weapons, as the Japanese seem to have developed these. In the Soviet Union there is still much talk of 5-year plans, and economic growth.

On the diplomatic front, it seems that Holland and its colonies, have entered a mutual defence pact with Great Britain. This move is sure to spark tensions in the long run.

The struggle to protect China from itīs many warlords, is going well for Japan. Here is a look at the map from the beginning of August. As you might notice, when comparing it to the one posted earlier, Japan has now taken Kaifeng and Wuhan. Also Japan has built a Chemical Factory, for civiilian use of course, near Sendai (off this map section). The Japanese fuel and supply situation has been much improved as a result.

France has sent military advisors and "civilian" personel to Poland, which it has made an alliance with. This proved too much of a provocation for the Soviet Union, that immediately launched an Invasion of Poland. A few days into the campaign France and Britain jointly declared war on the Soviet Union. In an effort to defend itīs own interests, Soviet land, air and naval forces launched attacks on Sweden and Turkey (that are both British puppets, the western press just doesnīt want to admit it). Within days Lvov and Vilnius are captured, Stockholm is attacked by the Red Fleet, and several ships are sunk at their docking stations. Istanbul is raided by the Black Sea Fleet, and several smaller towns in Turkey are bombed.

It seems that in this timeline, world war does break out over Poland, but with the Soviet Union as the main aggressor.

Elsewhere, Canton falls to Japanese forces, who liberate the city from itīs chinese overlords. Japanese troops also stand before the gates of Sian.

France: The Poland cause is a lost one, but we will bleed the bear in order to make it think twice before attacking peaceful neighbours. One Soviet Division was badly mauled while reaching Warsaw outskirts. The defense of Warsaw is being prepared. Great Britain: The Soviet propaganda machine seems to have forgotten the heavy losses suffered by their pathetic navy in the Offensive against Sweden and Turkey. The Swedish Navy was almost anihilated, but it managed to inflict heavy losses to the Red Navy, including an old Gangut class Battleship (Battleship I in game terms). The Baltic Navy was lucky, as the RN cannot enter the Baltic. On the other hand, the Balck Sea Navy was almost anihilated to the last ship and it now lacks anything bigger than a destroyer. Reinforcements are rushing to Turkey to defend that country from Soviet agression. The Black Sea will be soon a British lake, and we our destroyers will enjoy the opportunity to hunt some big fishes... USA: President Rooselvelt made a strong speech against Soviet agression, but no additional steps were taken. Itīs sais that most of the Congress is against involvement with this war, but the perspective of having the USSR in control of Turkey, Sweden and Poland isnīt well accepted too. Here are the losses suffered by USSR and GB in their engagements. Mostly naval forces.

Boy! This was a busy turn! I will however try to show as much as possible of the action, without giving too much away to Bombur.

Firstly in a move that shocked the world, Germany declared war and France and Britain! German troops rushed across the Polish border. Soon Poznan and Danzig fell to the superior German forces. There was a big airbattle over the skies of Warsaw, where the Polish Airforce tried to resist the superior German fighters. A special unit of German Polish fighters, produced by the workers of Danzig was not shot down. These traitors will be recieve a special court martial when caught.

The rich coal mine area of Krakow was taken by Czech forces, and the Polish defenders were helpless against the excellent produced Pz38s of the Czech Army (Light Tank IIs). A special Austrian force of volunteers moved in on Warsaw. The Hungarians not wanting to be left out of the action also attacked Polish forces near Lvov.

Meanwhile on the western front, German artillery shelled Luxembourg, then the smallish ally of France was bombed, and finally assaulted from 3 sides, and taken by German Infantry. A similar story can be told of the British and Dutch forces guarding the border of Holland. These were first shelled, and then assaulted by German troops, who after a short fight, were able to march across the front, and now stand at the gates of Amsterdam. Here powerful British forces have taken up positions, and a the battle of Holland is hardly over.

A secret pact between Germany and the Soviet Union, is revealed, in foreing papers. It seems they have decided to partition Poland, to share the loot so to speak. Germany also sent itīs submarine fleet into the Atlantic, to disrupt the British supply lines.

Also in the news: Persia declared war on Britain and France as well. Persian troops made a scouting sortie into Iraq, and cut off Kuwait from the rest of the forces in Iraq.

The loss in troops is acceptable. Here is a view of the losses both German (and allies) and French/British forces (as well as their puppets, like Poland, Sweden etc.)

Italy: Content with making only diplomatic moves, the Italian government seemly does nothing when war breaks out in Europe all around her borders. Instead, an alliance is made with Spain, and it is agreed that Spain will from now on follow Italian ambitions. (Spain is annexed by Italy). The burden of keeping these new forces in supply has fallen on the Bologna Chemical Factory, which was recently built.

Japan: A message was recieved via courrier from the American government. At least it was supposedly from the American government. Japanese authorities are trying to verify that this message indeed was from the Americans. It was strange, in that it was threatening, and dealt with internal Japanese matters. Until clarification has been made, Japanese offensives continue.

Chinese forces had been falling back in disarray, until recently. It seems they are willing to make a final stand at the gates of Chungking and Sian. An offensive was started in the area between Tsingtao and Peking. The plains there are ideal for tanks to prove what an offensive weapon they can be...

The Soviet Union made a big show of signing a mutal alliance pact with Germany. Also Bialystock was taken by Soviet troops, but apart from that, there was really no news to speak of. Rumours has it that there was a major offensive push to get Warsaw before the Germans, but it failed, with catastrophic loss in life.

The Italians are a fascinating country to play. They are weak, yet so full of potential. Also they have a nice fleet, that is ready to fight the British in their area, which cannot be said for any of the other Axis powers, save Japan.

One of the more fascinating aspects of GD 1938, in itīs versions after v. 0.80 is the existance of special units. Here is one of the more specialized Italian SFTs, the Fiat CR-42. It is available for a mere 30 PP, so a cheap upgrade over the Fighter Is you start out with. Like the Fighter Is it is not a single winged airplane, it is a biplane. However, it can be upgraded to Fighter III, when available. It also has a very good preformance compared to the Fighter I. So it in my view pays off to buy them. Here is a simple screeenshot of the SFT, and the text that bombur has written.

If you are reading the Foreign papers, especially those from the West, you will undoubtedly have heard about how Luxembourg was retaken by the French. This is true, they did hold it, for a while, but the German high command, OKW, decided that this would not be for long, and ordered a counterattack. Luxembourg fell, again, and the French divisions there were badly mauled, and had to flee back to the Maginot line.

Elsewhere, in Poland, Warsaw is surrounded on all sides. However, the recent attack by Soviet forces had left a high battlestack value on the hex, so an offensive was postponed, until january 1939. The traitor flyers of the Danzig Traitor wing, have been shot down, and some of the pilots turned over to the Gestapo.

There was a massive battle for Amsterdam. It began with shelling and bombing by the Luftwaffe, and ended with a huge assault conducted by among others the 7th Army, that really is a panzer army. This was the first time the Germans faced tanks of comparable value to their own. Despite the huge amount of tanks involved in this battle, the tank losses on the German side were pretty low.

The Italians did very little this turn. Or seemingly very little. Some troop movements in Spain might not bode so well for France, although, it seems that Britain is worried about what an alliance between General Franco and Mussolini, might mean for their possesions in Spain: Gibraltar. It has been massively reinforced.

In China, the 4th Japanese Army tried an assault on Chungking. Taking the city and its rich coal mines, would rob the chinese of itīs last valuable supply source (In this game, cities produce supplies, but at a very expensive rate, the best supply sources are Chemical Factories, Oil wells and Coal Mines). The city however held out, and it seems China is giving a respite, for now.

The Soviets suffered losses to their black sea fleet, which is now gone. And their submarines took a heavy toll as well. 10 submarine IIs were lost to the greedy imperialistic capitalist, also known as Great Britain. The Soviet people vow to avenge these brave submarine crews.

France: Poland is close to its final collapse, there isnīt nothing we can do to prevent it. At least the Soviet took heavy losses. The performance of Soviet armed forces has been poor in this game, possibly due to the recent purges of officials. In the West Front we have a stalemate. Luxembourg was lost again and captured again. The country already shifted hands four times in the last two turns. GB: The British Empire suffered a serious defeat with the loss of Amsterdam. The city defenses were considered invinvcible and they were broken by the Germans with relatively light losses. reinforcements were shiiped accross the channel to prevent a German advance in Belgium. To make things even worse, German air units inflicted heavy losses to British warships in the North Sea. Considering all operations, the British lost about 30 destroyers. On the other hand, ASW operations are going well, with more than 40 Soviet and German submarines destroyed in the last months, however, we are worried with the appearance of some new German submarines that are much more difficult to sink and even can fight back our destroyers. In the ME Front, the port of Abadan was captured. USA: The USA public opinion and the Congress still oppose to any intervention in Europe, however, the USA navy is sending small units to the Atlantic in order to help finding German Uboats. Information on the location of these units will be passed to the Western allies, but no offensive action is to be takes against German U-Boats China: The victory over Japan in the first battle of Chungking delayed the collapse of China, but situation remains bleak.

Germany reconquered Luxembourg, and took the final piece of mainland Holland. Unfortunately blowing up the bridge across the Rhine in the process. The artillery bombardment simply proved to much for the bridges. Time for the Engineers to prove their worth. The German tanks none the less forded the raging river, and beat the fleeing British and French that had come up to stabilize the line. Again it was a major tank-battle with more french and british losses than German. Mostly thanks to the Luftwaffe I think.

German subs are wreaking havoc with the british suppy lines. At least that is my impression. It is a joy to see the many blue dots and occasional white ones, that line the ocean traderoutes. As bombur has reported, Germany has built a few Submarine IIIs. These have very great range. I expect them to cause problems for him, for a long time to come.

Italy convinced Portugal to join their alliance. Once Spain had been convinced it was a small matter to make the portugese make up their minds. This means that Italy is quite the colonial power... with bases of operation from Timor in the East to the Azores in the West. In africa alone they control Ethiopia and Somalia (known as Italian East Africa), Mocambique and Angola, along with Spanish Morocco. A few naval units left the Mediterranian Sea to visit some of these places. Italy must make itīs pressence known, now that it is a (smaller) super power.

In China, the Japanese 3rd Army managed to capture Sian, and troops in the Southern part of China moved closer to Chungking, that is now besieged on 3 sides. The Chinese seem to want to hide in the mountains. Which is particulary annoying, but i guess itīs to be expected. In Chungking they however are standing fast. Japan also bought a technology this turn, fighter III, soon they will have Naval Fighter III, and the elusive Zero will rule the skies.

The Soviet Peoples Paradise is in the middle of a military restructing periode. It seems that due to the many recent purges of highly trained, yet treachurous officers, the Army is ill led. This will change, and the might Soviet Empire will rise again. The Soviet papers however are full of the news of how Soviet Airmen from the AV-MF naval airforce, have made the Imperialistic french and british flee the black sea. Stalin is pleased with this. Although his mood is somewhat grim, because he lost the bet with Hitler about who would conquer Warsaw first. The prize, that Stalin has now paid, is that the oil fields in Ploesti have been granted to Germany.